Facebook comes down on tobacco. And the new rules include Facebook daughter Instagram as well. Any sales, transfers but even gifting of cigars is now prohibited on both Facebook and Instagram. Even in private groups on the social network.



And it goes further, tobacco-related pages must be 18+. Any Facebook page promoting the sale of tobacco will be restricted to adults only. That includes cigar news outlets such as Cigar-Coop, Halfwheel, The Cigar Authority, and Ministry of Cigars. Ministry of Cigars is already an 18+ page. 



It is unclear how strict Facebook will enforce the new rules. Sales of firearms have been prohibited for years and yet are readily available on Facebook Market. It will probably result in removing of certain Facebook groups. A few years ago, Facebook removed some of the sales groups as well, before reinstating them a few days later. They claimed it was in error, but considering the current new rules, it was probably a test run.



Buying advertisements on Facebook was already a no-go for tobacco-related companies or websites. The changes are effective immediately. Alcohol is in the same boat and will be treated in the same way as tobacco.

Some groups and companies already created accounts on another social media platform called MeWe. Ministry of Cigars has a group there as well, if you are on MeWe, join us there.